Brutal honesty about growth

If you don’t know, we post over on TikTok a fair bit, mainly because it’s the easiest way of spreading the word of who we are and what we do and it is, like it or not, the modern standard for marketing. We have varying degrees of success with posts, some getting thousands of views and hundreds of likes, to hundreds of views and almost zero likes. We have just today hit 300 followers, which isn’t a lot but achieving any amount of followers still feels really cool, that people are interested enough to move from passive to active feels like a little pat on the back. And with hitting that number and thinking about views and such, it’s got me thinking about growth. What does growth look like for us.

For me, it’s about more people knowing who we are. TikTok is a great device to spread the word, it’s fantastic for engaging with people, but it isn’t the end goal. Success and with that growth on TikTok is not what the dream is. The dream is to be free of the 9-5, free of the restraints and able to create. Creation is the goal. So then what is the growth aim?

In the quest to spread the word, to repeat a phrase, the focus needs to not be lost for me and us. We then need to look here, on our website to where we want to direct people. But does that work hand in hand with TikTok and other social media, or parallel to it? Can you create a community when it’s so easy to just stay on an app? I believe the answer is yes and I look forward to trying to put that into action and bringing it to life.

P.S - If you are on TikTok or Instagram, please consider engaging with us in anyway you see fit, a follow, a like, a save or a comment. They do all actually help out the channel and would be massively appreciated it.

Dream and little dream

Let's get reel for a min shall we. I have always dreams about being able to share my creative side with people. I love to take photos and make videos and create music and though it's a dream to do that, I have always been a little too shy to do it. I have in recent weeks/months decide that life it too short to wait and there will be like minded people put there who may even enjoy what I make.

So why photography and why brutalism? Well they are two of the things I enjoy, two things I love. I love the history and the architecture and style of brutalism and the buildings built in it's style and I love photography. I love the physical nature of film, the grain on the shot, the waiting for development of the photos, the feel of holding real photos in my hand. I like many others work a normal job, creating in my spare time because it's what excites me and gives me a sense of purpose and joy. The dream would be that I could create something that could become my work, but I know in reality that is unlikely. But having this place to share my creativity with people all around the world is something that I am so lucky and fortunate to be able to do.

Hello & Welcome

Hello and welcome to the first blog from us at Reel Brutal Gallery. I just wanted to drop in and post a quick blog to say if you have found yourself on this site, thank you for taking the time out of your day to visit. What I write on here is real thoughts and feelings, so I apologise in advance that it may not be polished, however, it will be honest.

Over the coming months, we will be sharing with you some of our artwork, 35mm black and white film photography of Brutalist architecture from around the UK. Our long term goal is to sell these photographs as prints of the highest best possible quality, printed onto giclée paper to offer customers the best, museum grade, artwork prints that they can love, cherish and appreciate for years to come. Each print will be a limited run with 4 options of size that can be bought with or without a frame, which ever option suits you. This is to offer a variety for whatever suits your needs.

No AI is used in any of our work, nothing is generated, everything is real. Heart and soul is put into every shot. Authenticity is key.

Why 35mm? Well our favourite thing about film photography is that it is real, it’s physical. It’s not just zeros and ones. It’s not just pixels. It’s chemical. It is light and dark, it’s the real, physical sense. It’s analogue and we think that’s a thing of beauty, to be spread and loved and appreciated.

We really hope that you join us on our journey. We have loads to come and we are just at the beginning of that journey. Sharing our photography with the world is a dream of ours and we are so excited to get started.

Until next time, GET REEL.